Ryan Murphy has revealed that the 13th season of "American Horror Story", titled "13", will unite characters from across the anthology's previous instalments rather than focusing solely on a "Coven" revival, as recent set photos had suggested. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight while promoting his new series "The Shards", Murphy compared the season to "the Avengers", with returning stars including Jessica Lange, Evan Peters and Sarah Paulson each playing multiple characters from earlier seasons who join forces to defeat a common threat.

Sarah Paulson will reportedly play six or seven roles, Jessica Lange will reprise all four of her previous "AHS" characters, and Evan Peters will take on five parts. Lange, who largely left the franchise after 2014's "Freak Show" and had long resisted returning, said Murphy's pitch persuaded her to come back; he noted the season runs to 13 episodes to match its title and took him years to write. The cast also includes Kathy Bates, Billie Lourd, Emma Roberts, Angela Bassett, Gabourey Sidibe, Leslie Grossman, Alex Consani and Paul Anthony Kelly, while Ariana Grande, originally set to join, dropped out due to touring commitments.